Two federal agencies are planning to collaborate in the next fiscal year to address long-term care workforce issues in nursing home settings, according to a report released Thursday.
The report, published by the Government Accountability Office, identified gaps and limitations in data about direct care workers, such as nursing assistants and home health aides, that hinder workforce planning efforts.
Among those gaps is a lack of data from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration on the supply and demand of the direct care workforce, the GAO said. HRSA has not produced an assessment of direct care worker data in more than 10 years, despite the creation of new data sources.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to nursing schools over the past decade, drawn by the prospect of a well-paying job with a degree that takes as little as two years. But many have graduated only to find the goal posts have shifted, as hospitals seek nurses with more-advanced degrees, partly in response to an increasingly complex health-care system.

CampusRN members are students/alumni of the following Ohio schools (partial list):

Ashland University Aultman Hospital School of Nursing Belmont Technical College Capital University Case Western Reserve University Cedarville University Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Cleveland State University Columbus State Community College Cuyahoga Community College Edison Community College Firelands Regional Medical Center School of Nursing Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing Good Samaritan College of Nursing and Health Sciences

James A. Rhodes State College Kettering College of Medical Arts Lakeland Community College Lorain County Community College Lourdes College Malone College MedCentral College of Nursing Mercy College of Northwest OhioMiami University Mount Carmel College of Nursing North Central State College Northwest State Community College Notre Dame College Ohio State University

Otterbein College Shawnee State University Southern State Community College Stark State College of Technology Trinity Health System School of Nursing University of Akron University of Cincinnati University of Rio Grande University of Toledo Walsh University Washington State University Xavier University Youngstown State University